Til Death
by Quinnzical
Summary: Ianto is infected with an alien parasite that will change his life, forever. May contain violence and mature themes in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**'Til Death**

_**Standard Disclaimer: **_

_This is a fan written story arc involving characters [and dialogue] created and owned by Russel T. Davies and the BBC. The following story is fictional and does not portray any real person or event. Any reference to any real person or event is strictly coincidental. _

_No animals were harmed in the making of this fic. _

_**Twitter: Quinnzical_**_

**Chapter One**

A brutal murder had occurred only moments prior within the hub and yet no alarms were blaring and no lights flashing to warn of a violent intruder. The only sounds that filled the structure were those of electronic equipment humming a steady tune and computer processors whirring along in harmony.

Gwen had returned home to Rhys, to lie about her day and say nothing exciting happened within the "special forces department". Owen ventured out to a pub to find something warm to rub up against for the evening and Tosh had taken the long way back to her flat. When she got home she would settled in bed with a book she had been reading, only to fall asleep before finishing the next chapter.

Ianto never left the hub.

He stayed behind to go over some medical readings that Owen had left laying out on his desk, and flipped through them countless times as if searching for an answer that simply wasn't there. It was the newest case to catch their interest. The words were starting to become blurred together as he read and reread the crisp pages.

_Parasite has infected host and mutated 100% red blood cells, no cure._

He crumpled the last page within his fist, nearly growling in his frustration over the information they had gathered. The chair slid back with a deafening thud against a cabinet as Ianto stood, turning to head for the exit to take a walk and let the information sink in deeper. If he thought it over, perhaps he would just suddenly realize something they had all been missing.

He grabbed his coat and then Jack was there.

Jack was there and then Ianto found himself sitting on the couch within Jack's office, blood covering his torso and slowly staining his clothing as it dried. The thick crimson on his fingertips caught the light as he turned his hand and brought it to his lips to trail his tongue over the pad of his thumb. His vivid blue eyes nearly glowing as he stared down at the lifeless body of their captain, lying on the floor.

In the gap of time, everything seemed to shift together. He recalled they had been arguing, yelling quite heatedly. Words being thrown back and forth without hesitation until Ianto had lashed out, swinging a fist at Jack so swiftly that he hadn't the time to duck out of the way. The contact had split Jack's lip and it began bleeding.

Ianto didn't recall much after that..

He licked his fingertips and then stood from the couch, stepping over Jack as he headed for the door. He needed a shower and a fresh suit, the drying blood on his skin was starting to itch.

**A Week Earlier**

Ianto often found himself wondering what it was like for Jack every time he died. He would muse over the details of every wound, and ponder if there was a distinct difference between being stabbed and being shot. He wondered if Jack had a favorite way of dying versus all the others, one that wasn't quite as violent and painful. He found himself thinking at great length about what those final moments were like, over and over, for Jack. What it felt like to have the last bit of your life slipping away, knowing all that was to follow was darkness.

Across the abandoned grasses of Sevenoaks Park, in the shadows of great trees that swayed lightly in the midnight breeze, Ianto laid within a growing pool of his own blood and wondered if it felt a great deal like he did at that very moment.

_They had been tracking a spike in rift energy across half of Cardiff, one that moved too quickly for a decent foot pursuit but kept to locations that were difficult for the SUV to reach. No one knew what to look for, and the CCTV was only catching vague blurs of motion. It was incredibly dangerous to chase down, but that increasing danger made it all the more important that they do so before innocents ended up being harmed. _

Ianto coughed as the pain in his shoulder increased, the taste of blood on his lips not reassuring him that it was just the slightest of wounds, but at that point he couldn't tell if it was his blood or the creatures. He had to have injured it at least. It was too close for him to miss with the gun.

He didn't dare lift his hand from the side of his throat, fearing that releasing the pressure would just bring about the darkness faster. Too fast. He had to see Jack again, at least one more time. There were things he hadn't told him yet.

"_50 meters and closing in on your location, Ianto. Moving north along Waterhouse Drive. Still not able to catch anything on the CCTV, so stay alert." Tosh's voice came over the comm, a vigilant guide in telling them where to be and when to be there.. Jack was chasing the creature, sent to herd it into an empty location where it would be easier to contain. Ianto stood in it's path, ready to neutralize it with a variety of differing weapons. _

_In retrospect, Ianto felt that he had taken the wrong position in this strategy. Jack was usually better at being the bait._

_The pistol was heavy in his hands, but all he saw in the faint glow of distant street lights were the thick boughs of trees and an abandoned playground. The only sounds in the darkness were the rustling of leaves and the creaking of swings every time the wind would increase just the slightest. No rapid foot falls, not even the distant sound of Jack's coat hitting the back of his shoes as he ran. _

_And then, there was silence. _

_No wind, no creaking metal. No leaves shifting lazily, no distant waves in the bay. It became absolutely still in an instant, and it was then that Ianto saw it. The creature stood no more than a foot away from him, standing just off to the side with a desperate gaze locked onto him. It breathed heavily, nearly gasping from the exertion of escape and as it's shoulders rose and fell; Ianto saw the fear in it's eyes._

_It was humanoid enough, seven feet tall and staring down at him with a mouthful of teeth unlike anything he had seen before. No clothing to speak of, just thick scaling and plated bone covering vital organs like a genetic armor. It growled and began to move forward, and in an instant the pistol was raised._

_Jack caught a glimpse of the barrel flash in the night, the sound of the gun shot following a hundredth of a second after. He began to run. "Ianto?"_

He tried to shift onto his side, daring to crane his neck to look for Jack but every motion or strained breath searing nerve endings already screaming in agony. He wanted to scream as well, to let out a howl into the night against the pain and the inevitable. Ianto wondered when Jack stopped screaming, when he stopped fighting. When he would just close his eyes and wait for the darkness.

There were frantic footfalls and the sound of a heavy coat hitting the back of leather shoes. The faint streetlights had all gone dark and the ground seemed to disappear from beneath him.

The swing set creaked in the distance.

What followed next was a series of disjointed moments in time that Ianto would later attempt to piece together. Brief lapses in his state of unconsciousness when the world that continued on around him would break through the darkness of a dreamless sleep.

_Owen and Jack stood a breaths width away from each other, hushed voices and clenched jaws as they spoke on a topic that none of them liked but all of them were too familiar with. The blinding lights of the medical bay made it difficult to keep his eyes open for long, but the conversation was clear. _

"_I don't think he is going to make it, Jack... the gash to his neck is too deep and his fever is persistent. I've tried everything..." Owen ran a hand through his hair, glancing at the monitors that kept a vigilant watch on Ianto's vital signs. Jack shook his head, raising a hand to point firmly at the medic as if the aggressive gesture would get his words across._

"_Not good enough. You try harder, Owen. I will not lose him."_

The deep of unconsciousness took hold of him again, and the vivid light and heated conversation faded away. Jack seemed determined, perhaps a bit more than normal for an employer concerned over one of the team. Ianto had never seen that look in his eyes before, it was a fire that could burn out the sun.

_Jack's hand made swift contact with his cheek, his eyes blinking open for just a moment. It was long enough to see the determination had turned to desperation, Jack leaned over him as Owen struggled with a needle. _

"_Ianto, stay with me. Ianto." The medical bed he lay on seemed to drift away from beneath him, and he could see Jack turning to Owen. He was shouting something in a panic but it all seemed so far away, so distant that he could barely make out the words._

"_We're losing him!"_

There was a steady tone on one of the monitors before Ianto was in the familiar embrace of nothingness once more. He couldn't recall a time when Jack was ever in a state of panic. There was always a plan, a backup plan and an exit strategy. When all else failed he would resort to mindless heroics and hope for the best, but he never panicked. Curious then, as to why Captain Harkness would seem in a frenzy now.

_The lights of the medical bay were dark and the hub was silent except for a steady beep echoing on the walls. Night had fallen, thought it was difficult to tell if it was the first night or one of many since he had been attacked. For a moment, Ianto thought that he had been left alone to rest but then there was a hand curling around his own and he glanced down to find Jack at his side. _

_He wanted to ask what was going on, to start demanding answers to a thousand hazy questions in his mind, but Jack was hushing him and rubbing at his palm and wrist. _

"_Jack..." He managed weakly, his voice breaking as he struggled to wet his dried throat._

"_Shh, Ianto. Sleep." There was a small smile on the lips of their captain and Ianto let his eyes close. He focused on the feeling of Jack lightly caressing at his fingertips, rubbing his palm, trailing a thumb nail softly across his wrist, and slept. _

The haze was fading and the sense of desperation from Owen and Jack had disappeared as well. If the medic had been sent away to rest, then it must have meant he was stable. Stable and recovering. It didn't explain why it felt as if he was being held in the darkness, as if a chain was latched firmly on his leg, refusing to let him escape into the waking world.

"_It's definitely alien, but I have no idea what this is, Jack. His entire body is infected, a hundred percent of his red cell count." Owen was adjusting something just out of sight and Jack stood against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. _

"_I've had to give him transfusions just to keep him alive. It's like it's... a parasite that latches onto the cells, feeding off of them and once they're gone it starts attacking the mutated cells and the host. Like it starts eating itself."_

"_And the wound?"_

"_Completely healed. It's only been three days, and it's completely healed." He shook his head, and had started flipping through papers on a small table. "If this is a parasite, Jack, then it needs to keep Ianto alive. If Ianto dies, it dies. It's healing him. That's all I've been able to figure out. The Fuoco must have been carrying it and when it attacked Ianto, it infected him."_

"_If it's keeping him alive, why would it start to cannibalize?"_

"_I don't think it's sentient, it's just driven by a primal instinct to eat. When the food source it prefers runs out, it starts in on whatever it can." Owen glanced down at Ianto,a brow half cocked. "It needs to feed."_

**Present Day**

Ianto adjusted the knot at his throat, smoothing out the fabric of his tie over his chest. His hair was still damp and lay unkempt against his forehead, and he took a moment to brush his hand back through it as he leaned to peer into the mirror. The blood was gone from his skin and the feeling of desperate hunger completely vanished from the back of his mind.

A faint smile played at his lips as walked back through the hub to Jack's office, glancing down as he crossed the threshold fully expecting to see the prone body still lying there. He paused in a moment of surprised hesitation at finding exactly the opposite, his brows raising as he looked up and then turned at a faint click of metal behind him.

There was a barrel of a pistol aimed at his chest and Jack was standing, alive and well, at the other end.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Standard Disclaimer: **_

_This is a fan written story arc involving characters [and dialogue] created and owned by Russel T. Davies and the BBC. The following story is fictional and does not portray any real person or event. Any reference to any real person or event is strictly coincidental. _

_No animals were harmed in the making of this fic. _

**Twitter: Quinnzical_**

**Chapter Two**

"You killed me." Jack kept the gun level with one hand as he reached up to pat at his throat with the other, feeling for any remaining damage that might not have healed. What he remembered was that in the midst of an argument, Ianto had suddenly launched at him, and bit into his throat with the ferocity of a Weevil. The flesh tore so easily and Ianto was so strong, that Jack hadn't the time to even think of fighting back.

He could only fall and then die.

"You can't die." Ianto glanced down at the gun, before turning to start picking up papers that had been thrown about in the struggle. He glanced at Jack to see if he was intent on keeping the weapon raised, nodding a bit when it was slowly lowered. The threat had passed and in those moments, Ianto was just... Ianto.

"You were never that strong...before." Jack holstered his pistol, eyeing the younger man as he moved around as if it was just another day. Idle hands picking up discarded papers, shuffling them together and laying them neatly on the desk. Shifting the pencil holder just so, brushing his fingertips over the surface to clear it of a few stray crumbs. "What the hell, Ianto?"

Jack had a hand on his shoulder and was turning him around, his grip almost painful. The potential that the elder man would be looking at him with disgust or hatred had Ianto's gaze firmly locked to the floor. There were a lot of things he could handle, but Captain Harkness' disapproval wasn't one of them. "What if it was one of the others? What if it was Tosh that had been here?"

"It wasn't." Ianto thought it over, the scenario playing out in his mind as gruesome as he could possibly imagine. If it had been any of the others that he had a conflict with, they would be dead. None of them would wake with a gasp of air and those disoriented moments of remembering how their limbs worked. It terrified him to think of what would have happened if it had been someone else. If it had been Tosh.

"What if it was." Jack echoed his thoughts aloud, Ianto's jaw clenching slightly as he looked up at the older man through his lashes. It took all of his strength to meet Jack's gaze, but he did so with cold determination.

"I would never hurt Tosh." He reached up to brush aside Jack's arm, breaking the grip that the older man had on his shoulder. Pushing past him, Ianto started making his way across the hub for the cog door. There was always danger when working for Torchwood, a thirtieth birthday was a big deal for an agent, but if it had been one of the others.. Ianto was convinced that he would have done everything to prevent them from getting harmed.

"There is no telling what this is going to do to you." Jack was following after him, only a few paces back and it didn't seem as if the captain would just decide to let him leave without argument.

"I am fine, it's only been a week." Ianto glanced back at him, adjusting his tie slightly before focusing on preening out the cuffs of his suit coat. His determined steps leading him past the heavy door and up the stone steps as he made his way to the tourist office.

"Two weeks. The first seven days you were unconscious." There was a hand on his arm and Ianto slowed to a stop in the chilly hallway, fighting off a frown as he looked back and down at Jack. There was so much concern in his eyes that it was almost painful. How nice it would be to just curl up against the older man's chest and forget all about his illness.

"I am still learning what this is, how to control it." Ianto attempted to assure him, but there was a hesitance that betrayed his confidence. This was nothing like any of them had realistically seen before, and it seemed more painful that it was happening to one of the team.

"And if you cant?" Jack's hand loosened slightly on his forearm and he took the opportunity to step away, moving up a few stairs as he shook his head and motioned in a vague direction.

"Then, you lock me away. Lock me up so I can't hurt anyone." Ianto's voice was firm and he nearly spat the words as if they had been poison. The idea of being locked up like a weevil wasn't his best idea, but if it had to be done then he was willing. "It's been what, four days, since Owen gave me that last transfusion...so every three days we make sure that I am getting them. I've been fine until now."

"And if you miss one."

"I won't."

"If you do." Jack took strides to join him on the stair, leaning to catch his gaze to make sure that the point of how serious it could be was getting through to the younger man. This wasn't just a tiny little thing that they could shrug away and hope for the best. Ianto was carrying something alien and that parasite had the ability to kill by driving Ianto into a frenzy.

"I won't, Jack." He nearly rolled his eyes, stepping away again as he let his fingertips trail along the brick wall leading up the corridor. "I haven't been home in two weeks. I just want to go home and lay in my own bed. I'm not going to run off to become some murderous beast."

"Ianto.." Jack called after him, and for a moment, Ianto thought perhaps he had stopped trailing him.

"When have I ever missed a day of work, Jack?" He glanced over his shoulder, offering a bemused smile at the thought.

"This isn't the flu." There was an edge on Jack's voice that worried Ianto, and he nearly stopped in his retreat from the hub. He paused only for a moment to turn and give Jack a wave as he waited for the door to open into the tourist office.

"I will call you immediately if anything starts to feel off."

"Ianto... what if locking you away isn't enough..." Jack's brow creased as he considered it. They had no idea what this was, what it was going to do, or what it would take to stop it if it got out of control. But with everything that came through the Rift and everything that Torchwood covertly hid from the rest of the world, there were protocols.

"Then you'll have to kill me, Jack." Ianto's jaw tensed as he watched Jack on the stairs, lingering on the threshold between the corridor and the office before he turned to make the last few steps to freedom. Whatever it was that had infected him, he wasn't going to let it control his life. He wouldn't shrink away in fear within the hub, waiting for it to get worse or fretting over how to make it get better.

Ianto Jones wasn't the sort to take the hand he was dealt and just sit and stare at it. No. He hid a Cyberwoman, his girlfriend, in the basement of the Hub. He threw himself into the hands of a cannibal to save Tosh. He shot Owen. He survived a bomb going off mere feet away. Ianto Jones was not a victim of anything, and a parasite in his blood stream wasn't going to stop him from living his life.

He grasped the handle to the door with a renewed sense of confidence, pausing only one more second to see if Jack would make a last valiant effort to keep him there before he pulled open the door and stepped out into the sunlight.

The scream that echoed down the stone corridor had Jack nearly stumbling up the stairs as his brain fought to convey to his feet the urgency that was required. It was Ianto's beautiful voice, but it was twisted in agony and laced with a thousand burning needles being jabbed into the most sensitive of places.

Ianto was screaming and Jack needed to save him.

He raced around the corner prepared to fight whatever beast it was that had come through the door, but all that stood within the room was Ianto huddled back in a corner. There was the smell of burning and a faint wisp of smoke shifted towards the open door as a breeze called it forth to dance. Jack nudged the door closed with his boot and furrowed his brow.

Ianto was pulling in sharp breaths and the movement was causing his shoulders to rock, but the younger man wouldn't look at him and that alone was enough for worrying.

"Ianto? What is it?" He moved closer to have a better look at what had happened, catching the sight of jagged red burns along the side of Ianto's delicate features. He wanted to touch his fingers to the ruined flesh but found them stilled by Ianto's hand brushing him away. "Jesus, you're..."

"I don't know what happened..." Jack watched as Ianto struggled to find reason for what had occurred, and he did so by leaning against the wall and puzzling over every possible situation known to Torchwood. No answers came to mind.

"You're burned."

"I just stepped outside." Ianto shook his head, the pain already gone but the scorched flesh remained. Jack peered out of the door, glancing around for any enemies with weapons or an alien trap. There was only the normal crowd of people, admiring the view without any clue as to what lay beneath their feet.

Ianto saw his confusion and stepped closer to see as well, throwing himself back the moment the warm light from the sun hit his skin. He could hear it sizzle, smell the tang of burning meat, and the searing pain renewed across his charred flesh.

"A need for blood to survive and now sunlight burns?" Jack's lips were cocked slightly, his hands resting on Ianto's shoulders as he directed him back into the shadows and comfort of artificial lighting to look him over. The burns didn't seem as bad as they were, but they were lingering longer than he expected considering how quickly the neck wound healed.

"No, Jack."

"You did bite me." Jack's grin twitched with life, his hand shifting softly through Ianto's hair.

"No, Jack." He peered up at him, the distaste for the joke at the moment clear in his blue eyes. The confidence that he had gained as he made to leave the hub was shattered with the realization that it was currently impossible. He frowned and that frown nearly shattered Jack's heart.

"Let's get back downstairs. I thought this thing healed you." He placed a light hand at Ianto's shoulder and directed him back to the stairs, grateful that the younger man did not protest. He only side stepped any beams of sunlight creeping through the door and shuffled along back underground.

"Maybe it was only temporary." He suggested.

"Or it doesn't heal burns." Jack offered as they walked and he glanced at him to see if the injuries had faded at all. They hadn't, and his concern lingered.

"Or it just takes longer because it's been injured too." It was as if it was any other case that was confounding them, and they worked through it as they always did. Posing potential answers until one seemed plausible enough to keep in mind for follow up at a later time. Experiments would be done, options ruled out and in the end they would figure it out. For the time being, Jack's thoughts laid solely with his injured friend.

"You're staying here for now." He stated, letting the cog door roll closed behind them as he shifted out of his jacket and left it lying over the back of a chair. Jack glanced at Ianto again, a flutter of relief at some of the burns seeming less harsh than they had before.

"I want to go home, Jack." Ianto argued, his hands falling to his hips as he stood in defiance. Though he couldn't leave at the moment, the sun would set eventually and Jack couldn't keep him locked up just yet. There was no reason for it.

"This is your home, now. Ianto." Jack shook his head, climbing the stairs to his office as the younger man stood still at the entrance as if to make a point.

"Jack.."

"That's an order." He called back at him, stepping behind venetian blinds to tend to business left on his desk. A coffee would be necessary if he was going to continue to work, but it didn't seem appropriate to ask Ianto to make him one, considering. He would suffer without.

"I am going home as soon as it is dark." Ianto leaned to make sure his voice made it past the door, his shoes creaking slightly as he shifted onto his toes. The pain was completely gone from his skin and he glanced down at his hand to see that the vicious red marks were now just a faint pink blemish on his pale skin.

"No you're not." Jack replied from within the office and Ianto could hear the grin on his lips. He could also hear the tone that told him if he tried to leave, there would be handcuffs involved.

Again.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Til' Death**

_By: Sophie Quinn_

_Twitter: Quinnzical__

_R/R: I don't have a beta, so any critique is welcome._

The knocking came softly, echoing through the empty aisles of the archives and drawing Ianto's attention away from the file he had been reading. The file itself was nothing special, a case from the early 1800's when there was a sudden influx of alien technology, but Ianto found it interesting and the silence of the archives to be calming.

"Ianto?" Gwen's voice followed the faint knock, his name carrying an almost playful tone to it as it fell from her lips; like they were kids, playing hide and seek. If he stayed quiet, perhaps she would look elsewhere and leave him to his thoughts. He hoped she would just give up and forget him, but that wasn't Gwen. Gwen never gave up on anyone once she set her mind to it.

Count to twenty, ready or not. "Ianto, are you going to hide down here forever?"

"Not hiding." He muttered, standing to look over the filing cabinet he was currently going through, casting a brief glance towards Gwen before he dropped his gaze back to the aged parchment. "There is work to do."

He watched her from the corner of his eye as she began moving closer, her curious gaze laden with concern as she caught sight of the pink burns over the side of his face. She lingered, then, at the corner of the filing cabinet, with her arms lightly folded over her torso. Ianto presumed the stance was a means of preventing herself from fussing over him, something he would have balked at.

"Jack said you had a reaction to sunlight." Though the bits of scorched flesh had been healing throughout the day, they persisted and had begun to itch. He resisted scratching, busying his hands and mind within time worn pages of cases past.

"Doesn't matter." Ianto stated simply, his shoulders rolling in a shrug of indifference. They had all been injured at one time or another, and this one shouldn't have been any different. He was hurt, he would heal, and they would all move on to their daily lives of saving the world.

"Tosh has been running experiments. She thinks that there might be a clue in UV rays that could lead to a cure."

"Because it destroys the parasite." He stated, nodding a little. It made sense and he was hopeful, or as hopeful as any member of Torchwood could be at any given time. But hope was often fleeting, replaced with the cruel reality that a thirtieth birthday was a big deal for an agent of the Torchwood institute. It was an occasion often celebrated postmortem.

"Owen is helping too. He is researching mythology, he seems to think you've turned into a vampire." She offered a sympathetic smile when he rolled his eyes, the file in his hands forgotten and shoved away back in the drawer. It didn't seem prudent to say that there were no such things as vampires, not after all he had seen, but the idea was ridiculous. Not every myth had an extraterrestrial history, like Owen seemed to think.

"And you? What do you think?" He nearly snapped out the words, frustration evident in his shift of demeanor. Ianto refused to be made into a joke, to be taunted with more nicknames added onto Tea Boy. Gwen didn't flinch, her gaze merely softening as she looked him over. Carefully, she moved closer and placed a gentle hand beneath his chin, tilting up his face a little to have a better look at his slowly healing wounds.

"I think, you're sick. And scared." She paused for a moment to straighten his tie, brushing her hands over the front of his suit in a maternal way that was so very Gwen. Only she could make someone feel comforted and chastised all in the same instant. "and you're hiding from the only people in the world that can help you."

"Did Jack tell you what I did? That I killed him?" Ianto looked up at her, stepping back to avoid her hands and her persistent staring. There were things to archive, files to organize and he was certain that there was a decades worth of dust building in one of the corners.

"He mentioned it."

"I'm dangerous." Ianto turned to busy himself with another drawer, shuffling papers in and out of it as he reworked the filing system. The old ways were effective but he was working on a more efficient way of storing documents that didn't involve a numbered catalog. Anything to avoid having to look at her.

"All the more reason for you to trust us, Ianto." She was at his side, then, grabbing lightly to his arm to stop his retreat. "We can help but only if you come out of this dusty place. What is this, anyway?"

Ianto watched her glance around, following her gaze with an amused half grin of his own. He looked around, almost fondly at the rows of files tucked safely away in metal cabinets. "The archives. Where things are... archived. It's quiet."

He smiled and she smiled with him, her fingers trailing down the arm of his suit coat until her fingers entwined with his own. Gwen squeezed lightly, and Ianto squeezed back. For a moment, it was as if Rhiannon's spirit had slipped into the room unnoticed, and he was grateful for the comfort.

"You look as if you could use a coffee, we all could, and none of us want Owen getting his hands on it. Come up and we'll work on this together, as a team. Yeah?" She brushed her thumb across his knuckles, and he could feel something shift as he let out a slow breath. Hope, it seemed, was not entirely gone within Torchwood. Ianto was beginning to understand why Jack was so insistent on recruiting PC Cooper.

"Yeah..."

"Right, good lad." Gwen let go of his hand to give his backside a pat, nudging him towards the door. "Out you go."

They stepped out into the main room of the hub in time to catch sight of Owen and Tosh disappearing through the great cog doorway, Jack following a short distance behind with his coat being tugged onto his shoulders. "Gwen, with me. Ianto, you stay here and keep contact on the comms."

"What's going on?" Gwen parted from Ianto's side to close the distance between herself and Jack, glancing at the monitors in passing. There was a large red bleeping on a digital map of Cardiff, menacing did not seem to suffice. "What is that.."

"Something big. Tosh picked it up with the rift locator about five minutes ago, I need everyone in the field." He glanced at Ianto, watching the young man as he paused in his steps to linger at the monitors. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was high within the skies of Wales. Everyone would have to exclude him. "Ianto..."

"Understood, Sir. I'll keep an eye on it, and let you know where it is going." He nodded, offering a vague smile as he slipped into the desk chair and began tapping at the keys. Ianto had his back to the door, but he could hear that their leader had been lingering, watching him. "Sir?"

"You're looking good, Ianto." Jack stated, noting the improvement of the burn marks on his skin in addition to the slight improvement in his demeanor. The younger man didn't seem so desperate anymore, not as angry at the world that he had been hours before.

"Careful, Sir. That's harassment." Ianto glanced over his shoulder, smiling a little as he watched Jack turn to jog out of the hub. He turned back to the monitors and the smile faded, a vague grimace crossing his delicate features as he clutched at his stomach and fought back a groan. A pain was building, an ache that was suddenly difficult to ignore.

The hunger was supposed to be subdued for days, but it seemed the little amount of blood that had been fed to the parasite by attacking Jack was only enough to sedate it for a matter of hours. Ianto glanced towards the medical bay, eyeing the cold storage where a blood supply was kept before he glanced to the monitors and slipped the comm piece within his ear.

"I can hear you loud and clear, Sir. It's heading north, northwest."

By the time that night had fallen it was only Jack that had returned to the hub. The others were sent home, the mission of tracking, fighting, killing and disposing of the creature that threatened the earth taking the entire day. He stepped off the lift, brushing a sleeve over his forehead as he planned out a shower, a warm meal and a very heavy night of sleeping. The idle planning ceased and shoved to the back of his mind as the eerie quiet of the hub catching him off guard.

"Ianto?" Jack glanced around as he crossed the threshold of the cog door, lingering at the metal cage for just a moment as he listened for footsteps, breathing or any faint brush of fabric that would give away the younger man's location. When nothingness followed, Jack's hand fell to his pistol while the other reached for his cellphone. It rang steadily as he brought it to his ear, his eyes careful to watch the shadows.

"Yup?" Ianto's voice came over the tiny speaker, and the flicker of emotions over Jack's face brought new definition to awe at the sheer audacity. He lowered his pistol slightly before slipping it back into the holster, his gaze flicking around at the empty hub.

"Where are you?"

"I went home, Jack."

"I told you not to leave."

"I didn't listen."

"I am coming over, Ianto. You aren't safe."

Silence followed over the phone before soft footfalls from the lift echoed through the cog door. Ianto appeared a moment later, arms full of various pieces of luggage that he took to dragging the rest of the way. Jack watched him, snapping his cellphone closed before he stepped closer to take some of the bags in order to set them aside.

"I needed my things." Ianto said it softly, almost apologetically for disobeying orders so directly. He set down the rest of his luggage just inside the door as Jack stepped closer and slid a hand along the younger man's cheek. He let the pad of his thumb play across his cheek bone, cupping softly at his jaw before Jack leaned in to kiss him firmly.

There was fear in the kiss. Fear of something happening to Ianto somewhere that Jack couldn't look after him, fear of losing him to the alien that lived within him. There was also relief that he had come back, a soft breath between their lips of relief that he was safe, relief that he was home.

Ianto's hands fell against Jack's coat, his fingers gripping at the heavy fabric as he leaned into his chest, pressing against his lover and deepening the kiss with a growing ache for the warmth of comfort that only came from being this close to someone like Captain Harkness. It was those hands that started pushing it away from his shoulders, sliding it back until it fell to the ground with a soft whoosh of fabric collapsing in on itself.

There was a guttural groan at Jack's lips as he tugged at the buttons of Ianto's suit, a soft pop of threads breaking and a clattering of plastic a few feet to the side as one of the buttons gave way to the urgency. Ianto took a step forward, Jack stepped back until the railing met his thighs and the younger man pressed into him. The kiss became all teeth, desperate gasps for air as they breathed in each other, frantic hands tugging at clothing as the chill of the hub battled against the heat rising off their bodies.

Jack found himself grunting again, a soft chuckle of amusement falling from his lips as Ianto's warm kisses fell to his neck and ear; he bit lightly at the lobe. "Ianto Jones, isn't this harassment?"

"I'm sorry, Jack." He muttered, soft nibbles along Jack's throat causing breathy gasps to escape the older mans lips.

"Oh, don't you dare apologize. You do wicked things to me." He laughed, his hands gripping at Ianto's hips as he rocked into him, eliciting a grunt from the younger man. Jack could feel him still for only a moment, the kisses breaking as Ianto leaned back and nearly frowned before the cold of a knife was at his throat. The good feelings fading, he struggled to comprehend a reaction.

"I'm sorry, Jack." Ianto muttered again, twisting his wrist to slice into the flesh. The deep crimson flowed quickly and Ianto's lips were at his throat again, sucking deeply to drink in the warmth, to feed the desperately growing hunger.


End file.
